Political furor after revelation by weekly ‘Vima’ over hacking of FM Dendias

A report in this weekend’s Sunday edition of “Vima” refers to the hacking of Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias’ cellphone using a malicious application, and how such data may have wound up in the prime minister’s office — an explosive charge picked up by the main opposition SYRIZA party, which subsequently assailed the latter.

“Mr. (Kyriakos) Mitsotakis (the prime minister) is guilty and extremely dangerous for leading the country… The wiretapping against the county’s foreign minister is a very serious development, one that endangers our national security,” read the announcement by SYRIZA.

The Vima article is bylined by reporter Vassilis Lambropoulos.

During the evening newscast of the Athens-based Mega channel, another reporter, Sotiris Bolakis, said the revelation confirms that Dendias received a “baited” SMS on his mobile phone, with the result being that the phone became bugged.

The development has caused concern in Greece and abroad, given the contacts that the Greek foreign minister had with foreign officials.

At the same time, SYRIZA underlined that the Vima article confirms a list of names of ministers who were placed under surveillance, stressing that the eavesdropping against Dendias is of particular national importance.

“There’s no margin left,” SYRIZA officials said on Saturday, noting that they’re waiting to see if Mitsotakis this time will dismiss the report as a product of “story-tellers” and if government ministers will continue to threaten the journalists of Vima with imprisonment.

“We wonder if Mr. Mitsotakis will repeat, with the same intensity, the attacks he launched a week ago against the newspaper Documento and the newspaper Vima,” the SYRIZA announcement stated, adding: “If he’ll (Mitsotakis) again refer to story-tellers, or Russian agents, or if he’ll also threaten Vima’s journalists with 20-year prison terms, because they possess evidence and proof?”

Finally, main opposition party officials said they’re waiting to see whether the reaction by Mitsotakis and his top lieutenants will be the same as last Sunday, vis-à-vis the revelations made at the time.